CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell

When Ezekiel opened his eyes, he could only see an empty white room like the ones in asylums. It had only one door in the far corner that looked more like a hollow in the wall. He spun around, trying to catch sight of something, anything that would tell him where he was, but there was nothing.

It was a few moments later that a person walked into the room through the hollow. As soon as he stepped into the same space, Ezekiel felt his breath hitch and he waited patiently and warily for the stranger to come close enough so that he could register the danger he was in. It was a man, or whatever it was took the form of a man, tall enough to look human but everything else screamed Hell. His appearance itself was not scary, but it was odd. He had the air of an aristocrat as he walked but he also had heavy steps that made enough noise to make Ezekiel swallow nervously.

Ezekiel only hoped that he was dreaming but as the man approached, he started to doubt his sanity.

The stranger stopped right in front of Ezekiel and blinked, his orange eyes shining brightly with bemusement.

“You’re not dreaming, Ezekiel. And you are not insane,” he spoke, his voice not as low and scary as Ezekiel expected.

"I didn't say anything," Ezekiel said trying to sound braver than he felt.

“It’s written all over your face.” the man said with a chuckle.

“Who are you?”

The stranger raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to the human. Ezekiel gulped as he looked into those round orange eyes, so big that he could clearly see them pulsating. The man himself had red curly hair and a pale complexion. For some reason, it felt like he was growing taller and more authoritarian the more Ezekiel stared at him, but not necessarily threatening.

“You know already. I got you here for your own safety,”

Ezekiel gulped and took a deep breath of what he hoped was air but soon coughed, feeling his throat burn.

“You're in the hospital with a tube down your throat,” the man explained. "There is no air in here,"

Ezekiel rubbed his neck, feeling the faint discomfort of something in his throat. If he was in the hospital, then he was in a lot of trouble.

“You won't die, you're not in danger in here. But if you are brave enough, we can walk out and I can show you what you have always desired to see," The stranger said, his eyes narrowing as he lured Ezekiel.

The red-haired turned around and walked through the hollow, the human following like a puppy without further questioning.

They walked down a very long corridor, that seemed to stretch before their eyes, with red tiles on the ground, so clean that Ezekiel could see his reflection in them. The human looked at the redhead, at the way he resembled an image that he had researched in the past.

The redhead glanced over his shoulder at Ezekiel and grinned.

"Don't look at me, Ezekiel. Look at the art,"

Ezekiel's eyes rose to the high walls and gasped at the portraits adorning each side. There were both men and women, very different in race, colour, and age but they were all in the same position: they were standing, a bit to the side, staring ahead not at the artist, and with their hands somewhere on the upper side of their body. A peculiar detail that intrigued Ezekiel was the state of the portraits, which was awful. They were scratched, burnt, and broken, and some faces were completely ravished, but all of them had their hands clean as if the devastation of these amazing pieces of art was fine as long as the hands were still visible.

“Who are these people?” Ezekiel asked curiously.

“What do you think?" The redhead asked, "They're not angels or demons, that's for sure. So then, what are they?"

Ezekiel knew the answer which made him even more worried than he already was for Zoe.

"Come on, we're nearby," The redhead added.

The redhead stopped in front of a door and waited for the young human to reach him before he opened it widely. The first thing that Ezekiel did was cover his ears. The anguish of the doomed souls was very loud, their cries were not just heard but felt in every corner of Ezekiel's soul. He tried to block the sound but it was impossible. He took a step back and focused on how Hell looked rather than how it sounded.

"I can't see anything but I can hear them so clearly," Ezekiel whispered, his heart breaking at the moans and groans of pain and sorrow.

“Everyone has their own image of Hell but what they all agree on is the sound. Doomed souls cannot rest, they are punished to exist in a constant state of despair. Each soul is different, so punishments differ from one soul to another, but they are all suffering,” The redhead explained before he turned to the human, his face morphing for a second, exposing the beast within, “This is what Hell looks like, Ezekiel.”

The human tried his best not to tremble but it was hard.

“It's you." The human said in a shaky whisper, "Beelzebub,"

Beelzebub, the Prince of Flies and the Commander of Hell was standing before him looking extremely pleased.

The demon prince smiled so widely that he looked like the Joker.

“Nice to finally meet face to face, isn't it? You don't have to worry, as long as you stay here, you're not dead. But one wrong move, one thoughtless step through this door and you will die,” Beelzebub explained, chuckling at the terror on Ezekiel's face. The redhead closed the door slowly and his face morphed into a more humane look.

"What about all these portraits?” Ezekiel asked, changing the subject and getting away from the entrance to Hell.

“They are past commanders and inheritors. The more involved they were while alive, the closer their portraits were drawn to Hell. However, most of them, if not all, were a disappointment so their portraits were left to fate." Beelzebub explained as if he were the curator of this sick museum. "I always placed my mark on the right hand while Lucifer always placed his mark on the left, that's why the hands survived."

Ezekiel looked out of reflex at his forearm.

“Where is Zoe?” The human asked.

Beelzebub tilted his head to the side and stared bemusedly at the human.

“Zoe's quite a challenge, even for me. Something about her draws demons to tease and torture her, and yet she always comes victorious in the end. Not even in my wildest dreams had I expected Zoe to create her own mark and her own little army," Beelzebub said looking rather happy with the outcome, "Or even mark a human as her anchor. It is not unheard of to cling so hard to a human just to sustain your own humanity, but she is holding onto you so hard that it worries me,"

"Why?"

"Because you will die, as all humans do, and so will Zoe's humanity," The redhead said looking slightly a bit worried.

"But I'm not going to die anytime soon. Besides, Zoe will die as well, and honestly, there are high chances for that to happen earlier than my death," Ezekiel commented, thinking rationally since Zoe was always in danger and she was older than him.

Beelzebub laughed, surprised by the way Ezekiel seemed to react when the subject was death. He wasn't afraid, but he wasn't keen on dying either.

"I'm sure you already know that most commanders ignored my mark, lived more or less peacefully, and died peacefully. Some of them married the inheritors, hoping that it would erase Lucifer's curse from their bloodline, but they always failed. As long as I chose a commander, he kept the bloodline of the inheritors."

"So if you stopped, he would have stopped as well?" Ezekiel asked the obvious which made the demon prince shrug.

"Maybe, who knows. The story of the original inheritor was not my fault, it was man's fault and his stupidity to lie to Lucifer," Beelzebub explained, narrowing his eyes at Ezekiel, knowing the young man was blaming Beelzebub for the fate of many innocent children.

"Why did you choose Zoe? To punish Mrs. Lestrade? If so, why didn't you mark her own child, why wait until Zoe was born?" Ezekiel asked very good questions, which made Beelzebub understand why Zoe liked him so much.

Beelzebub turned and looked at a certain portrait in the corridor. Ezekiel blinked and found himself zooming to another portrait, one further away from Hell. Beelzebub looked at this woman with melancholy and he touched her hands with care.

"When I was an angel I used to watch humans live and wonder how they made all the choices in their lives. Was it based on emotion, on practice, on reason, on necessity, who knew? Some people made incredibly bad choices while others had to suffer the consequences. It was intriguing."

"Was that why you fell?" Ezekiel asked hoping it wouldn't offend the demon.

"No. I fell because I was bored," Beelzebub responded with a boyish grin, "I wanted to be more than an angel, I wanted to know enough but not know everything. I didn't want to be God nor did I dislike him, I just wanted to be free. It may come as a surprise to you, Ezekiel, but angels aren't free beings. They do God's will. Humans have free will so why should I not? That's why I am not in the least disappointed with my place in the world,"

"Did you really fall in love with a human?"

"Love is...intriguing. It can be a weapon or it can save lives, it can make you go insane or it can make you think clearer than ever, and it can start wars or it can bring people together. Love is both good and bad, both enlightening and dark...very human, if you ask me."

Ezekiel was confused because the demon didn't answer his question but started to philosophize.

"How was it possible for a demon to have a child?"

"Anything is possible if you want it hard enough. She did and I gave her what she wanted. Unfortunately, God's servants couldn't accept such a child and they tried to kill her," The demon started, his orange eyes growing darker, almost red. "They tried to kill my daughter,"

"Isn't that why you gave her that pocket watch?"

"That pocket watch wasn't for me. It was for them to hear and interfere since they care so much about humans. But they didn't and I couldn't watch anymore so I took her far away. She lived like a normal human until they burnt her on the rug for allegedly being a witch."

Ezekiel was still very confused.

"What do you mean for them? Who's them? Angels? You believed that angels would save a demon's child?"

Hearing a young boy say it, Beelzebub couldn't help but feel foolish for ever believing that angels would ever get involved, although all humans are equal in God's eyes. Supposedly.

"Every human has a guardian angel. Apparently, she didn't."

"Does that mean Zoe doesn't have a guardian angel either?"

"She has you. And now, she has her little army." Beelzebub said, sounding almost like he cared. "When she was born, I was surprised at how much she looked like my daughter. I thought maybe this time, she would be able to use my gifts properly."

Ezekiel couldn't help but wonder if that was the whole truth. Beelzebub was a demon, not just your usual father, so there was definitely more to the story than he let out.

"Why don't you help her then? Why did you allow Mehrdir to guard her?"

"Mehrdir tried his best to take Hiset's place and be around the commander, mostly out of his hunger for status. Under Mammon, he was just another high-leveled demon, but as Zoe's guardian, he could advise her to do anything and the power and influence of such a role was exactly what Mehrdir liked, both in life and in death. I accepted because I could see how desperate he was, and it was funny." the redhead said laughing at the memory.

"But he made her life worse. Didn't that worry you?"

"All Mehrdir did was make Zoe dependent on him, which worked against him once she marked him as her mate. You see Ezekiel, Mehrdir had such a grand plan which failed because he let himself be swayed by her pain. Foolish, but effective. Now he is the one who depends on her."

"Aren't you worried that she might die?"

Beelzebub shrugged and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Dead or alive, I will still see Zoe, and Mehrdir will still be connected to her, as will Iaosur and Eneizar. The only one who would suffer would be you, Ezekiel. Only when you die will that mark disappear from your body. But when that happens, you will ascend to Heaven and won't be able to ever see Zoe again nor will you remember her. Quite a pity, hm?"Beelzebub said, noticing Ezekiel's frown.

The demon prince winked before his body melted to the point it became goo and it became one with the tiles. Well, that was a beneficial discussion but it left Ezekiel with a bittersweet taste in his mouth. And he was still stuck wherever he was.

Zoe opened her eyes in a room full of precious gems and luxury clothes.

"What a pleasure~ The thief is here,"

She rubbed her head and took a good look around, more importantly searching for whoever snarled at her.

"How did I get here?" Zoe was ready to get up when someone forced her back down. His eyes were...well, she couldn't see his eyes, "Who the heck are you?" She waved her hand in front of him since she wasn't sure he could see her from behind that long thick fringe that covered his eyes.

"Stop it, you little shit. Is that how you thank me for bringing you to my castle?" The short male scoffed, slapping her hand away.

Zoe narrowed her eyes at the man and scanned his appearance. Truthfully, he was terribly short, about 1,63 meters, and his face was very pale; he had white hair, not long but his bangs covered his forehead and eyes. He was dressed in royal clothing, including a cape, but without a crown.

"I didn't ask you to," she mumbled.

The demon was definitely glaring at her but she couldn't see through his fringe. The lower part of his face was scrunched up in disgust.

"I am your boyfriend's master. No matter what mark he wears, I created Mehrdir," he hissed.

"You don't look like I thought you would. Shouldn't you be less aggressive?"

"Take care how you talk. You're still human Zoe. You don't want me to shove your ass out and cause you to die, do you?" He warned with a smug smirk, "You stay here for a while. Don't touch anything. If you do, I will know." He pointed at his eyes before he pointed at her.

But Zoe started to wander around, looking at everything in the room curiously.

"Why do I have to stay here?" Her eyes widened when she remembered some little detail, "Where is Ezekiel?"

Mammon grabbed his head and shook it disapprovingly, "Stop, stop, stop. You're too loud and ask too many questions!"

Zoe was amazed at how much Mehrdir resembled his master when it came to anger issues.

"He's in the purgatory," Mammon answered eventually.

"Then, where am I?"

She saw him turn his back to her and grit his teeth.

"Didn't you hear me earlier? You're in my castle. Stay here and don't touch anything." He warned her firmly before he left.

She sighed and searched for a window, unfortunately, everything was blocked by gold. She touched a small piece of fabric on the ground and inspected it.

"DON'T TOUCH I SAID!"

Zoe was perplexed by the loud voice. It shook the ground and made a pile of gold fall to her feet. She threw the fabric away quickly and sighed. It wasn't the Christmas she hoped for.

“They’re dead.”

Chen was panicking. Even when grandma Lestrade called an ambulance, Chen couldn't help but tear up. When the demons left, it was clear that something bad happened.

“They’re not dead. Even the doctors said they are in an induced coma.” Jasper said, actually listening to what the paramedics said.

Weirder was the fact that Zoe and Ezekiel were impossible to put in two different rooms. Except for the fact that their eyes were open, once the paramedics tried to place them in two ambulances, they got burned. Therefore, the two were placed in the same room, which made a complete fuss in the hospital.

“They’re so creepy. Why don’t they close their eyes?”

Jasper rolled his eyes and walked towards Ezekiel. He closed his lids but a few moments later, they opened by themselves.

“That’s even more deranged,” Chen mumbled and shuddered.

“I can’t feel anything from Zoe. It’s like she’s been transported somewhere without a signal.” Jasper added.

Chen grabbed a hand through his hair and sighed heavily, “We’re in deep shit if they don’t wake up before the doctors realize something’s fishy.”

The inheritor nodded and glanced at Zoe’s hand. Nothing was glowing, nothing was happening. It was so, so weird.

Zoe was bored.

Mammon left her in a room with nothing to entertain herself. She thought about leaving a few times but every time she tried to, a field force pulled her back. She sighed and sat in the corner, next to an immense dresser.

The girl looked at it once and noticed something familiar about it. She leaned closer and touched a mirror leaning against the dresser and saw her reflection. She still looked normal.

“Does he even know I’m here?” She wondered out loud.

The reflection in the mirror suddenly shifted and showed her the domain. The whole place was a mess, even more than before.

In front of Beelzebub’s cave were demons of all shapes and levels. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not because demons looked dangerous no matter what, but she noticed that all of them had some type of sign burnt onto their foreheads.

The commander was sure they weren’t there for support, they were there for the war. Suddenly, she remembered the writing on the wall.

The Master is forming an army. When Earth falls into darkness, he shall rise and conquer.

“Was it even about humans or was it only to scare me?” Zoe wondered out loud.

She leaned back and watched the events unfold right before her eyes. The one who walked out of the cave wasn’t Beelzebub, no, it was another demon of a high level. He told the demons something and they growled.

It felt like she was watching TV on mute.

“Are you wondering what they are doing?”

She jumped in surprise at the unfamiliar voice.

“You’re Beelzebub’s pride and glory, aren’t you? Mammon told me you’d be here,” he took a step forward and chuckled, “I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Mepalham and I will be the one to guard you for the time being.”

She tilted her head to the side and inspected thoroughly the new acquaintance. He was short and slim, just like his master but he seemed far more intimidating than Mammon. Something about him reminded Zoe of Gakhas, which was not the best example since the sloth demon was demented and underestimated by his peers. Those pale blue eyes and dark hair of Mepalham were strangely human, though.

“I heard Mammon doesn’t have many demons left in his command.” Zoe started after a while.

Mepalham raised an eyebrow but didn’t move from his spot. He was standing in front of the door like a bodyguard, the exception was he didn’t look like a bodyguard or like someone who could guard anyone for that matter.

“That may or may not be true.” He said with a shrug.

He was a smart demon, she could see it on his face. Actually, now that she was looking at him closely, he did have a face, unlike many demons whose skin was in bad condition or wasn't there at all. He turned towards the image in the mirror and walked towards it, stopping a foot from Zoe.

“The army is still small but Beelzebub gathered the best demons under his command,” Mepalham added.

“Are you one of them?”

The demon chuckled, “Maybe. As long as I gain something from this war, I might fight.”

"Of course," she muttered with a roll of her eyes, “Where is Mehrdir? Or should I ask you for answers instead?”

Mepalham snorted while trying not to laugh.

“You know, Zoe-“ He started to pace around her, “You have no idea just how popular you are around here. Maybe I should show you but if I take you outside, you will die.” He started to chuckle when he saw her take a step away from him, “But then, why not? You’re not afraid to die, are you?” He stopped behind her and pulled her closer to him, ”You’re afraid that people you love will die.” He whispered in her ear.

She turned quickly and pushed him harshly into the wall. Her eyes changed rapidly and her face complexion became sharp.

Mepalham smirked, his eyes glinting with joy. She glared at him and pinned him to the wall, holding onto his neck as if he were a toy.

“Well, well. The demon surfaced.”

“You should choose your words wisely."

Mepalham raised an eyebrow and touched her hand. She had a tight grasp on his neck and wasn’t wavering at all. Zoe wasn’t weak but she was still a novice.

“That may be right, commander.” He started.

Mepalham was short so he used that in his favour. He leaned back and used her hand as support to kick her harshly in the stomach and send her flying into a pile of diamonds. She got cut on her arms and legs when she fell.

Mepalham took one diamond that seemed to be sharp enough to cut like a knife and drew a line along her collarbone. His eyes were shining with malice and greed, his iris paling to the point it became completely white.

“You’re not dead yet, Zoe. You’re not valuable in your recent state. Not to me, not to Beelzebub.” The demon mumbled while staring at her with superiority.

She glared at him and leaned closer, “Then what do you want me to do? Die?”

The demon stared a her blankly.

“Yes,” Mepalham whispered before he narrowed his eyes and leaned in. "Die."